Joystick problem?

[marcastel57]

Lately when I slightly pull my Thrustmaster joystick to keep altitude, the elevator movement isn't always smooth, but sometimes jerky. All other axis are ok. It seems to me that this happens since when I fly in totally full realism option, but it could be a coincidence. Is anybody experiencing the same, or is it a joystick problem?

[lensman1945]

might be worth checking the joystick output in the Windows calibration app or Clod's Controller set-up menu.

If the output is jerky, then it could be a dirty pot' in the stick.

[bolox]

First off, if you are flying the Hurricane this is a reported bug from long ago.

Second, look to see if it is appearing properly to windows- in win 7 Start>devices and printers, right click on the icon for your joystick and click game controller settings, a box should pop up, select your stick from the list and click 'properties button. Click on the 'test' tab.
You should see a box for X axis/Y axis move your stick around and watch the response of the cross in the middle, it should go smoothly to the top and bottom as you move elevator control, return to centre and not jump around. If it doesn't do so your stick probably needs calibrating- click the 'settings' tab of the properties box you are looking at, and then click calibrate - follow on screen instructions.
If after doing this stick doesn't then there could be something wrong with it. There are a few things to try but might get a bit detailed...

Note that I don't have a thrustmaster stick and some sticks bring up a custom properties box that might be slightly different but the same principles should apply.

If all looks good here, then its time to look at the ingame controls:-

So from main screen go to options>controls>axes and click on the elevator tab. You should see 5 bars appear at the bottom of the screen. The right hand 2 show the sticks INput into computer and the OUTput into the game.
move elevator and watch the bars move. If all 3 of the left hand bars are set to 0.00 the in and the out bars should follow each other smoothly and exactly.

Of the left hand bars;
Sensitivity controls sensitivity, fully left the output should mirror the input (same as 100's across the board in old IL2 terms). Moving it to the right makes the stick less sensitive in the middle but should still reach maximum deflection.It applies an 'S' curve to the input in proportion to how far you move the slider. Change to suit what you think is realistic works best for you, but would recommend starting at 0.00
0% Dead zone controls the deadzone at the axis centre, left is no deadzone and 1.00 is the maximum deadzone. A deadzone is an area in which stick movement will produce no output into the game, as you don't want this behaviour I recommend 0.00.
100% Dead zone controls the deadzone at the extremities of movement in a similar way to 0% deadzone.

IMPORTANT- when you have the settings to your liking. based on the in/out bars, click the APPLY button, if you hit back any changes you made will not be saved.

[marcastel57]

Thank you Bolox, a very accurate explanation